City touts $120M increase in grand list

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published 7:00 pm, Monday, March 21, 2005

Two one-time cash windfalls should also help pay the bills. Danbury will need roughly $8 million in new revenue to cover rising costs in labor and health expenses.
At the existing tax rate, the city would raise $2 million from the $120 million in new property on the grand list.
The developers of the former Union Carbide Land, WCI Communities, said when it bought the land it would pay the city $2.5 million. That sum was part of an agreement between the city and the land's previous owners. The money is due by June 30.
The city is also expected to earn roughly $1.4 million in conveyance taxes when the Danbury Fair mall changes hands in mid-April.
That leaves the city about $2.1 million short, with the budget going to the Common Council on April 5.
"I think we're going to need to find those dollars," said Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, "through cuts or an increase in revenue."
Boughton's probable opponent in the November mayoral race, Democrat Dean Esposito, said residents would pay extra one way or another.
"No tax increase is doubtful," Esposito said. "The city raised so many fees. That's another type of taxation. People are already paying property tax, and now they're paying $25 for a fire marshal inspection of their apartment. That's a double tax."
Boughton said the inspections are required by state law, and landlords should pay the fee.
"There won't be any new fees in the new budget," Boughton said. "The fees were approved in the previous budget."